Illness sidelines João Almeida from Portuguese season start; Paris-Nice the debut race for 2024

João Almeida is having a key year in his career, as for the first time he sets off to race the Tour de France. In a season with many different plans, he hoped to start off his season close to home in Portugal. However, an illness has wreaked havoc in his plans and this has been delayed several weeks.

Almeida was planning to start his season at the Figueira Champions Classic and right after race the Volta ao Algarve - where he was set to be a favourite, both for fans and for victories in both races. However he was sidelined due to illness. Sources at this Saturday's race have confirmed to CyclingUpToDate that Almeida has suffered with tonsillitis and required over a week of rest off the bike recently. This is a pebble in the shoe of the Portuguese rider, who will now likely start his season at Paris-Nice - where he initially he had big goals of fighting for the final podium. 

Almeida is racing the Ardennes classics later this spring for the first time, and will also be part of the Tour de Suisse before racing the Tour de France together with Tadej Pogacar, Adam Yates and Juan Ayuso. He will be one of the many strong cogs on UAE Team Emirates' wheel.

The 25-year old still has hopes of racing on Portuguese roads later this year in the World Tour peloton; the Vuelta a España starts in Lisbon and the first two days of racing are not far from his hometown near Caldas da Rainha. It is a great motivating factor for last year's Giro d'Italia podium finisher, who is currently in Andorra looking to build back his form into the upcoming weeks.